In a laboratory or production setting, personnel often have to transport glassware containing hazardous substances from one location to another. It is in the best interest of management to provide users with the safest equipment possible. Safety equipment suppliers sell a limited offering of laboratory trays for moving glassware and other types of vessels.
Conventional trays have several limitations. Some of the trays lack sidewalls, making it likely that if the tray is jostled, its contents will fall off. Another limitation of this type of tray is that it contains an inadequate mechanism for containing a spill should one occur. Third, use of flat trays does not prevent pieces of glassware from knocking against each other which could lead to breakage and spills.
There are utility lab trays that have sidewalls which would prevent a piece of glassware or other container from toppling over the edge of the tray. While such trays are able to contain a spill, they are not capable of preventing pieces of glassware from moving within the tray and knocking into each other.
Test tube racks are another example of devices that could be used for transporting and storing glassware; however, they have limitations too. Racks are limited to holding glassware of a single size, or of a rigid selection of sizes. This limitation requires the user to purchase multiple racks of various sizes to accomodate each size of glassware in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,880,865 issued to Knox discloses a hematological tray for the collection of blood samples. The hematological tray has slots for holding glassware of different sizes; however, it does not allow flexibility in the sizes of items it accomodates.